Faith column: ‘We are in God’s care’ as we stay steadfast in the face of coronavirus

My son and daughter who live in the Boise area don’t visit my wife and me. If they come for anything, we put it outside and they pick it up. They say that is safe for me, a man in his 60s, in case they have the coronavirus. These indeed are desperate days.

COVID-19 has redefined our lives — we are all humans protected not by titles, bank accounts or ZIP codes. The attack knows nothing about developed or Third World nations, and for sure it does not favor believers or nonbelievers.

But there is a place for faith in desperate days. My mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer in the early 1980s. She confided to me, her first born, that the prognosis wasn’t promising after she visited doctors and was told that her cancer was in an advanced stage. Back then, I had no clue what cancer stages were. But she said, “They can say what they want, but I know who takes care of lives.” I have since retrieved and found strength in those words whenever I feel hopeless. God is in control, I remind myself.

Our nightmare is not different from the desperate times recorded in the Bible, as evidenced in the story of the deliverance at the Red Sea or after the prayers of God’s people like Asa, Nehemiah, Daniel and many others. King Jehoshaphat’s predicament was beyond his control. A huge Syrian army was coming to fight him. The Bible says that he feared and set himself to seek the Lord. In his seeking, King Jehoshaphat observed that his army didn’t have the might to fight against the great forces that were approaching, and they didn’t know what to do. He concluded his prayer by affirming, “But, our eyes are upon you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12.

I love God’s response to King Jehoshaphat’s prayer in verses 15-17. God assured him that Judah did not need to be afraid or consider the great multitude against them. It was not Judah’s battle. It was God’s battle. Judah didn’t need to fight. All God required of them was to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

God won the battle for King Jehoshaphat and his people.

Our standing still is to do what we are being told to do by experts. Standing still seems trivial, such as washing hands or distancing ourselves from other people. Whatever force we are facing, there is power in surrendering, acknowledging our inadequacies and stepping aside from battles we cannot win even if we tried.

My grandfather was a warrior and a great arrow shooter. I felt protected whenever we traveled through forests that were infested with wild animals. I knew Grandpa was there, and I was safe in his care — he protected me. We are in God’s care.

The worst thing to do in desperate days is to despair. We need faith to sustain us as we deal with what we are facing. Faith lifts us up and keeps us expecting a better tomorrow. It helps us to prevail and thrive. We have to heed the words of Corrie ten Boom, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”